Wednesday, November 14, 2012

I attended a fabulous wedding last weekend - my friend, Kelly, got married - it was beautiful and she looked gorgeous! My other friend, Robin, and I went together on a gift for her from her registery - a rather large, long-handled pan (forgot to take a pic of that). Robin picked the gift up and I offered to wrap it for us. Well, ok...I BEGGED to wrap it...I love to wrap gifts! And the size of the box - oh my! It was huge! It's fun to decide how to wrap different sizes of gifts/boxes and this one screamed "TABLE RUNNER!" Yup, instead of (well, in addition to) ribbon, I like to wrap a table runner around a gift box - two gifts in one that way.

Now here comes the most INCREDIBLE aspect of this sewing adventure for me...are you ready?...I made it completely from my stash on hand! Yep! Not sure that's ever happened before :-) I always seem to "find" a reason to sneak to an LQS on the pretext of needing some little bit of fabric...but this time, I bit the bullet and shopped my basement fabric store. I chose In the Beginning's September Light, which I had already used to make a completely different table runner last year for a swap. So I was using up leftovers - even better!

I didn't use a pattern - just made my own up as I was sewing...surprised it turned out so well - I love it - so I'm going to write down exactly how I did it so I can make it again...

So...done with the table runner...next up, add bits to a purchased dishtowel, and make a matching potholder...

Now I do have to fess up that I DID zip to JoAnn's for some natural/wood flowers for a bouquet to further decorate the package, but that doesn't count because it's not fabric, right? Are ya with me on that? All right!

Of course, I also love to bead, so I incorporated beads and gold wire into the bouquet...the beads and wire were already in my stash! Score again!

I used safety pins, wire, and ribbon to assemble everything onto the box...I would liked to have been a mouse in the bride's pocket when she attempted to unwrap it . Sorry, Kelly ;-)

Best wishes to Kelly and Joe - may they have many happy years of love :-) And thanks for getting married so I could wrap a present :-)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Want a new, elegant way to tag your gifts this year? I've been making these "ribbon gift tags" for years. I use them as a fancy-pants way to identify who-gets-what...for Christmas as well as other gift-giving occasions.

Here's my tutorial, and in the days to come, I'll also show you how to make variations, including envelopes and bags.Supplies you'll need:

Nylon organza ribbon - my favorite width is 2 3/4" (but you can use 2" or 2 1/2" ribbon if that's what you have). I'll show you how to use much narrower ribbon in a future post. I have a stash of this 2 3/4" ribbon which I found at a holiday expo show, but I've run out of the red (used the last of it for this tute), and I found this vendor that carries the same ribbon, which is a bit heftier (and cheaper!) than the nylon organza ribbon that JoAnn's sells: 2 3/4" Shimmer Sheer Ribbon.

Beads - "E" beads and/or seed beads work well, and I also use tri-beads to jazz up the hanging loop

Needles - beading or milliners, or any small needle what will pass through your chosen beads, and also embrodery/tapestry to thread the tri-beads on the hanging loop (optional)

At the sewing machine, fold the ribbon in half lengthwise and sew a 1/4 or 3/8" seam along one narrow end. (You could also hand-sew this, or possibly use a product such as Steam-A-Seam.)

Trim the corner at the fold, to reduce bulk. Heh, heh, heh...that's an empty Cesar dog food tray holding some empty bobbins in the picture...I use those little trays for EVERYthing!

Turn the ribbon at the point, and flatten, centering the seam.

Turn the ribbon over, and fold the bottom end of the ribbon up about 3" or so, depending on how long you cut the ribbon, how deep you want the pocket, and how much room you want for the card to stick up above the pocket . Fold up one more time. And pin in place. This makes a very nice "pocket" without a visible hem - it seems to "float." If you wish, press the ribbon to flatten and crease - use low heat, though, or your ribbon may melt!

Using either seed beads, or "E" beads, and a needle (check to make sure your beads will fit on the needle!) and thread, hand-sew the sides of the ribbon where the triple-thickness of ribbon forms the "pocket," sewing the beads to the right side of the tag. Space the beads about 1/4" apart, or as desired to achieve the look you want. Sometimes I alternate a seed bead with an "E" bead.

Sew/bead both sides of the pocket.

Both sides are sewn/beaded. Does it look like a tag now?For the hanger, take about 12-14" of a narrower matching or coordinating ribbon and trim both ends on the diagonal, to make it easier to thread the ribbon onto an embroidery/tapestry needle (or you may just be able to poke the diagonal ends right through the tri-beads). Thread 3 tri-beads onto the doubled ribbon. I like to alternate colors, such as red/clear/red...green/light green/green, etc.

Tie an overhand knot at the cut ends.

Sew the knotted end to the point of the ribbon tag, then push the tri-beads down to the point.

Make a nice bow out of more of the narrow ribbon, or wider ribbon - whatever you have and want to use to make it pretty - this is where you can get creative! Make more than one bow...make a rosette...make a ribbon rose! Sew the bow to the tag, over the knotted hanger ribbon.

To make the card, use a piece of white or colored cardstock. Using the ribbon tag, mark the width and length for the card, allowing for an inch or so to stick up out of the pocket. Make sure you don't make the fit too loose or too tight - you want the card to slide in easily, but not so small that it falls out! Use a rotary cutter/ruler/mat to cut to the desired size, or a paper trimmer, or scissors, and then check the fit.

Decorate your card, slip into the ribbon tag pocket, and tie onto your package! Many people who receive these ribbon gift tags replace the cards with small gifts or candy and hang them on their Christmas trees for years to come, or they can make a new card and recycle them for their own gift-giving!

Handmade for the Holidays

Nadine's~Apronista

About Me

I knew I should take a break from "apron swapping" when I mailed a swap out and started to write my return addres (which SHOULD be "123 Apple Valley Rd") on the mailing package as "123 Apro..." LOL! I couldn't think of a name for my blog, but when I told the story to my son, Ben, he said I should call it Apron Valley Road, and of course, he was right!